Thursday, June 02, 2011

Crown Heights Community Mediation Center Kicks Off Summer of Celebration This Sunday

The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center works as hard as anyone to bring the area's diverse communities together, and this summer, they're launching an initiative to support and expand all of the exciting block parties, festivals, and celebrations that proliferate in the neighborhood. The Summer of Celebration starts this Sunday at Hamilton-Metz Park. From the CHCMC:

Each summer, the 71st Precinct hosts a family day picnic in Lefferts Park (Albany and Lefferts Aves), to celebrate unity in Crown Heights. This year, the event is this Sunday June 5th, and will also serve as the kick-off event for the Crown Heights’ Summer of Celebration series of events. The picnic will host the Crown Heights Connects resource fair, a project of The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center's LTI program to help connect residents with local organizations and help create meaningful connections for people wanting to help people.

Many of us know and love Crown Heights for its vibrancy, diversity, strong communal bonds, and mix of traditional and progressive trends. But these are tough times, and we’ve had our share of ups and downs. We hope that this event will also help create a stronger, more interconnected community.

The Crown Heights Leadership Council, an informal group of community activists, politicians, law enforcement, and other stakeholders in Crown Heights, is embracing a summer of community events under the banner of Crown Heights: Summer of Celebration. The goal is to emphasize the positive achievement and energy in Crown Heights, as well as to create excitement and awareness around the many existing services and organizations in this neighborhood. Labeling the many efforts and events in Crown Heights under a common logo and mission statement will create consistency and partnership among the organizers and recognition among residents, hopefully increasing attendance numbers. Event ideas include educational evenings, movie screening, arts activities, block parties; we’re open to your ideas! The kickoff event of the summer will be the 71st Precinct’s Community Council Family Day picnic on Sunday, June 5th. The Crown Heights Community Leadership Council will hold a culminating event and press conference to mark the end of the summer and the twentieth anniversary of the conflict in Crown Heights.